Recently in baseball Category

After letting the Mitchell Report and the potential repercussions it will have on major league baseball marinate over the weekend, I jotted down a few thoughts about it...

• I will be very disappointed if no disciplinary action is taken. I realize George Mitchell urged Commissioner Bud Selig not to discipline players for past violations unless it threatened the integrity of the game, but I believe every instance of cheating threatens the game's integrity. It doesn't matter if it leads to a broken record, Cy Young award, or championship ring, or simply gives one player a spot on a big league roster over another player; it still undermines the game. To allow past cheating to occur without any consequences rubs me the wrong way and sends the wrong message to players and fans.
• I don't think it's reasonable to believe that Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens are going to be stripped of their awards, or that either of them will have asterisks placed on their records.
• It only seems fair that any Clemens-tainted baseball, jersey, or glove in the Hall of Fame should receive a Marc Ecko stamp of approval.
• I don't believe it's reasonable to expect Bud Selig to strip the Yankees of their championships during the years their roster was packed with the performance-enhanced players. Admittedly, it would give me a warm, fuzzy feeling if he did.
• While the names of players listed will receive the most media attention, I believe there are two parts of Mitchell's report that deserve greater attention.
  
  The first is Section II (pages 4-17), which outlines the adverse effects of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. It not only talks about the health threat they pose to individual athletes, it also talks about their threat to the integrity of the game. Mitchell includes a fitting quote by George F. Will:

  Athletes who are chemically propelled to victory do not merely overvalue winning, they misunderstand why winning is properly valued. Professional athletes stand at an apex of achievement, but their achievements are admirable primarily because they are the products of a lonely submission to a sustained discipline of exertion. Such submission is a manifestation of good character.

  The second section worthy of greater attention is Section XI (pages 285-306), which outlines Mitchell's recommendations. It covers investigating non-testing based allegations, addressing violations, and preventing future use through education. They are forward-looking recommendations to change the culture of the game. I sincerely hope Major League Baseball closely reviews them and implements them. With any luck, they will go above and beyond the recommendations to make baseball a leader when it comes to cracking down on performance enhancing drugs.
• I realize that all we are talking about is a game. Yet it's a game closely associated with our national identity. To that end, I want baseball to be a sport that upholds certain ideals and values, like hard work, discipline, character, honesty, athleticism, and good sportsmanship. If they are values we want in our young athletes, then they should be values the league promotes and every player embodies.

This is what happens when I listen to a baseball-related press conference and stumble upon some text-to-speech software on the same day -- I end up using my writing time to produce a by-the-seat-of-my-pants podcast.

Here's a link to the mp3, if the embedded file doesn't work. The audio is difficult to understand, so I have included a transcript of the program for handy reference...

Michael: Good afternoon and welcome to Random Curiosity Radio, podcasting from a computer in the 4-0-8, in 16 bit stereo, at 48kHz. This is Program Number 1. I'm Michael Mickelson.

Michelle: I'm Michelle DeLaRochelle.

Sam: And I am Microsoft Sam, no relation to Yosemite, though I don't like varmints.

Michael: We're here because David stumbled upon a text-to-speech program that is supposedly a "natural voice" reader.

Sam: I sound natural... right?

Michelle: Very.

Michael: Because this is our first episode, we are learning as we go. I thought we would begin with the story of the day: the release of the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball.

Sam: Excellent! Steroids in sports are a serious issue.

Michael: Yes it is, Sam. At a press conference today, former Senator George Mitchell outlined the findings from his investigation. He also listed some of the recommendations in his report, including...

Sam: Yes yes, that's all nice and fine, but people don't want to hear his recommendations! They want names!

Michael: We'll get to that in a second. I just wanted...

Sam: Names! I have them right here!

Michelle: Michael, maybe we should just let him read them to get it done and over with.

Michael: Fine. Go ahead, Sam.

Sam: Thank you. Um... in what order should I read them? Alphabetically or from shortest to tallest player?

Michael: Just read them!

Sam: Okay, okay. Mitchell named the following cheaters...

Michelle: Alleged.

Sam: Alleged cheaters. The list includes: Barry Bonds, Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, Jack Cust, Brendan Donnelly, Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi...

Michelle: Gone-yay and Gee-om-bee.

Sam: It isn't Gagne or Giambi?

Michelle: No, no it isn't.

Sam: Oops, my bad. Eric Gone-yay. and Jason Gee-Om-Be. Troy Glaus, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch...

Michelle: Knob-lock.

Sam: Knob-lock? What type of name is knob-lock?

Michael: Just keep reading.

Sam: Okay. Paul Lo Duca, Gary Matthews Jr., Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, and Miguel Tejada.

Michelle: Tay-hada.

Michael: Michelle! Please stop correcting him. Just be thankful there aren't any Japanese players on the list.

Sam: What? Why not? I don't have any problem pronouncing Hideki Matsui or Kosuke Fukudome.

Michelle: You're kidding, right?

Michael: We are nearly out of time. Michelle, why don't you give us a couple of key quotes from today's press conference?

Michelle: Thank you, Michael. During the conference, Mitchell said "a principal goal of this investigation is to bring to a close this troubling chapter in baseball’s history and to use the lessons learned from the past to prevent the future use of performance enhancing substances." He also urged the Commissioner to forego imposing discipline on players for past violations of baseball’s rules, except in extreme cases where the integrity of the game is threatened.

Sam: Bull honkey!

Michael: And that's all the time we have. For Michelle DeLaRochelle and Microsoft Sam, I'm Michael Mickelson. This has been Random Curiosity Radio, Program Number 1. Thank you for listening!

Sam: Ya better say yer prayers, ya flea-bitten varmint! I'm a-gonna blow ya to smithereenies!

Every once in a while, I like to see what search terms bring folks here. As is often the case, 9 out of every 10 visitors come here by accident. These poor people were led astray by the God of Search Engines (a.k.a. Google). Feeling partially responsible for their predicament, I believe it's necessary to redeem myself occasionally and get them back on the right track. As I did last time, I have kept the queries intact, but have changed the names and places to make this feel more like an informal question and answer session. To the queries...

Alexander B. from Scotland wonders, "what are those devices everyone is wearing on their ears little phones or mp3 players?"

Contrary to popular belief, Alexander, those little devices you see people wearing aren't for talking on the phone or for listening to music. While euphemistically referred to as Bluetooth technology, they are actually the latest in brain seepage prevention technology. If they don't wear it, things can get very messy, very fast. If you see somebody wearing such a device, remember, don't stare or make fun. The individual doesn't deserve your contempt, he or she deserves your sympathy and understanding.

Craig B. from Texas wants to know, "who hit robby thompson in the face with a pitch?"

This is an easy one, Craig. According to this article, the culprit who hit Robby Thompson and broke his cheekbone was Trevor Hoffman.

E. Robertson from Ontario wants to know, "how do i get rid of unwanted pictures in my shoebox".

Here are my Top 5 recommended ways of getting rid of unwanted pictures in a shoe box (mp3), in order of preference:

1. shredding
2. tossing
3. burning
4. burying
5. regifting

Diophantus of Alexandria queries, "shelby has eight fewer dimes than pennies and nineteen fewer dimes than nickels shelby has a total of $3.75 how many of each coin does she have?"

Diophantus, I'm not going to give you the final answer, although I'm sure it's out there on the web somewhere. Instead, I'll quickly walk you through how I would solve it...

1. First, I establish my variables: p for the number of pennies Shelby has, n for nickels, and d for dimes.

2. Next, I write my initial equation: .10d + .05n + .01p = 3.75.

3. Because it will be easier to solve for just one variable, I'm going to write p and n in terms of d. Shelby has eight fewer dimes than pennies. Therefore, p = d + 8. She also has nineteen fewer dimes than nickels (n = d + 19).

4. Substituting these back into the main equation, I get: .10d + .05(d + 19) + .01(d + 8) = 3.75.

5. Now all you need to do is simplify and solve for d and you'll know how many dimes Shelby has. From there, plug the number of dimes back into the two simpler equations and you'll get the number of pennies and nickels.

Carica P. from Mexico wants to know, "words that rhyme with papaya".

Carica, after a deep meditation session, here are my Top 5 words that rhyme with papaya...

1. jambalaya
2. Sanjaya
3. pariah
4. Mariah
5. conspire (with the right mispronunciation)

Garth B. from Oklahoma queries, "looking for a country song with the lyrics swing batta batta swing in it".

Garth, the song you're looking for is "Swing" by Trace Adkins. I wrote about it last year, but I'm afraid the links I included are nothing more than a memory. Luckily, the song's music video is still available on YouTube...

Diophantus, if you're still reading this, Shelby has 17 dimes. And this is why I wouldn't make a good math teacher.

Boston is going to the World Series. Again. Finally.

After Cleveland took a 3-1 lead in the best of seven American League Championship Series, the chances of Boston mounting a comeback seemed doubtful. The winning momentum belonged to Cleveland and if the two clubs had played three games in a row at the visiting team's ballpark, I'm certain Cleveland would be the city celebrating today. But thanks to the bizarre day off between Games 4 and 5, it's a city with plenty of time to watch Major League while wondering what went wrong instead.

The day off not only gave Cleveland's momentum a chance to cool off, but it gave my badly bruised optimism a chance to recuperate. By the time Josh Beckett threw his first pitch in Game 5, I knew he was going to keep the Red Sox alive another day (technically two, counting the travel day). Boston beat Cleveland 7-1 and brought the series back to Fenway.

On Saturday, with Curt "Student-of-the-Game" Schilling on the mound for the Red Sox, I had a relatively good feeling about things. It instantly became a very good feeling after J.D. Drew hit a first-inning grand slam. The silent bat in Boston's sixth spot had finally found its voice.

Fausto Carmona and two other Indian pitchers combined to give up six runs in the third inning and Boston won the game by a score of 12-2. I nearly had an anxiety attack when Terry Francona brought in Eric Gagne to pitch the ninth inning, but by some minor miracle, the former Dodger closer slammed the door on the Indians.

The moment I never want to forget from Game 6 came when Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland's second baseman, plunked Kevin Youkilis in the head during a botched rundown. Youkilis scorched a ball off the Green Monster in left field and overran first base. The relay went to Cabrera who chased Youkilis back to first. Ten feet from the bag, Cabrera tried to toss the ball over Youkilis to the first baseman, Ryan "Champagne-Tastes-Just-As-Good-Away" Garko, but bounced the ball off the top of Youk's helmet instead. In that split second, Youkilis dropped and slid back to first base safely. It's a play worthy of the blooper reel when the postseason DVD comes out.

Last night's Game 7 was much closer than the final score of 11-2 indicates. Boston led by as little as a run at one point and the game would have been tied if it hadn't been for a bad call by the third base coach to hold Kenny Lofton at third in the seventh inning.

In the bottom of that inning, Dustin Pedroia, Boston's leadoff man who hadn't batted in a run all series long, launched a towering home run over the Monster to put Boston ahead by three runs.

Hideki Okajima, the Boston reliever who throws strikes without looking at the plate, pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh innings, but was replaced by Jonathan Papelbon in the eighth after letting two batters reach base with nobody out. That turned out to be Cleveland's last best chance to win.

It was a short-lived chance. Papelbon squelched their offense in the top of the eighth and their defense collapsed in the bottom of the inning. Sloppy fielding and a three-run double by Pedroia gave Boston a nine-run lead. Papelbon pitched a scoreless ninth and Coco Crisp made a brilliant, body-jarring catch in center field for the final out

Boston now gets two days to rest before hosting Colorado. The Rockies will enter Fenway with eight days of rest and a ten-game winning streak on the line. While it would be sweet if Colorado won its first World Series in franchise history, it would be sweeter if Boston won its second title in four years.

Prediction: Boston wins in six games. Beckett and Schilling stop Colorado's streak. The Rockies strike back in Games 3 and 4, but the Red Sox return to finish them off in Games 5 and 6.

This weekend, I

> read outside on Saturday. M has been running on a local trail on the weekends to prepare for the Nike Half Marathon in San Francisco. Since I want to be supportive, I've accompanied her to the trail. Since I want to be supportive without slowing her down, I've used her outdoor running time as outdoor reading time. It seems to work well. I hope to pick up running again soon since my supply of t-shirts is running dangerously low.

> hiked in Henry Coe. Inspired by Tom Mangan's article and an undeniable desire to stretch my legs, I went for a stroll to China Hole in Henry Coe, the local state park. A number of trails are closed due to last month's Lick Fire, but there are still many worthwhile places to explore and China Hole is one of them. Once I finish uploading some photos, I'll write a quick trip report about it.

> watched Boston lose to Cleveland in Game 2 of the ALCS. Until the middle of the tenth inning, with the score tied at 6, the game was only long. After Tom Mastny got David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Mike Lowell out in order to finish the inning and the Indians came back to wring seven runs out of the Red Sox bullpen in the top of the eleventh, the game became long and excruciating.

Dear Terry Francona,

Please do not let Eric Gagne pitch in relief or go anywhere near the mound for the rest of the season. I know he means well, but he also means misery and disaster.

Sincerely,
David (a.k.a. a Random California Red Sox Fan)

> visited IKEA. After attending a Sunday morning birthday party for twin two-year-olds and then recovering from that party with a cafe au lait at Cafe Borrone, M and I braved the crowds at the Swedish big box furniture store. We managed to come out alive, both physically and financially. We only bought a much-needed bookcase that we got easily into the car and a pair of kitchen scissors that we had to secure with a bungee cord since it was hanging halfway out of the trunk.

I now have three building projects to complete at home this week...

1. the bookcase
2. a bathroom cabinet
3. a LEGO Hogwarts Castle (it was on clearance)

While every fiber in my being says #3 should be done immediately, I'm going to be good and tackle #2 first. That will be the most difficult one. Next, I'll assemble #1 so we can get our growing pile of books off the floor and onto some actual shelves. Finally, as a reward for building #1 and #2, I'll treat myself to building #3.

> watched the Seahawks self-destruct against the Saints while hearing the Rockies clobber the Diamondbacks. I now believe the best way to watch football is with the volume muted. The experience is so much more enjoyable when you replace the commentary and sound effects with music or baseball on the radio. The Rockies are a win away from their first trip to the World Series. With any luck, they'll get that win tonight.

Arizona and Colorado swept their respective opponents (Chicago and Philadelphia, respectively) on Saturday. Boston swept Anaheim on Sunday. Cleveland defeated New York in the Big Apple on Monday to win that series. Since then, baseball has been on hold¹ and will remain on hold until tomorrow evening, when the Rockies meet the Diamondbacks in Arizona for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

A two-and-a-half-day break in the middle of the postseason is a long time to go without baseball. Arizona and Colorado have rested three days. They could easily play tonight. I realize ticketholders are expecting the teams to play tomorrow, but I bet very few would be disappointed if they got to see the game a day early.

Letting the National League play tonight would then allow the American League Championship Series to begin tomorrow. It's only saves one day, I know, but it's one day less in an already lengthy season. It also means we would be one day closer to the final showdown between Colorado and Boston (it's the match I'm predicting and hoping for).

At the rate MLB and its television partners have this postseason paced, we won't have a World Series winner until Thanksgiving.

¹ If you listen carefully, you can hear the following message repeating softly in the background, "Major League Baseball thanks you for your patience. Your patronage is important to us. Please stay on the line. The next available baseball team will be with you in approximately... 35 hours."

I've been fighting off a cold for the past week. I thought I had vanquished it over the weekend, but just like a bad horror movie villain that everybody thinks is dead, my cold came back to life for one last showdown yesterday. It's me or the cold and I swear I won't let a nasty post-nasal drip bring me down, even if it is wearing a ski mask and wielding a chainsaw.

Part of my relapse might be attributable to the hiking I did in Monterey this weekend. While I would like to believe rambling through a county park helps the body and mind rest and recuperate, it probably isn't as effective as some actual rest and recuperation, but I must admit it was nice to be outside while the denial lasted.

Besides hiking and sniffling this weekend, I was paying attention to the last games of the baseball season being played in the National League. As of Saturday, four teams were still fighting for two playoff spots.

There was the exciting tie in the East between Philadelphia and New York that needed to be settled. I was rooting for the Mets to clinch the division, but after a certain Mr. Glavine gave up seven runs in the first inning to the Florida Marlins, I stopped rooting for them out of fear that I would put the game completely out of reach. The Marlins trounced the Mets anyhow and the Phillies clinched the division.

(Not that I'm unhappy Philadelphia made it to the postseason. Although it's the team of Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, it still feels like the team of Lenny Dykstra and John Kruk to me.)

There was also the close Wild Card race up for grabs. It came down to a tiebreaker game between San Diego and Colorado. Despite the fact that I was rooting for them, the Rockies managed to beat the Padres in 13 innings. It's a good feeling and a nice change of pace when I don't jinx the team I want to win.

Tomorrow, the Rockies and Phillies face each other in the first round of playoffs. I don't know who I'm jinxing rooting for yet. Maybe I'll alternate teams every inning to keep things interesting.

Now I think it's time to take a decongestant to ward off my chainsaw-wielding cold for another four hours.

I did a quick and dirty mock-up of AT-AT Park, which randomly mentioned in the last post as a solution to constant name changes the ballpark in San Francisco experiences. If it became a reality, it might look something like this...

Tonight, Barry Bonds plays his last home game as a San Francisco Giant. I wish I could be there to see him. I bet it will be standing room only at AT&T Park¹.

Over the years, I have had a love-hate relationship with Bonds. He has been both a source of pride and shame.

When he came to San Francisco from Pittsburgh in 1992, I idolized him. The best player in the game - the two-time MVP, the son of Bobby Bonds, the godson of the great Willie Mays - had come home and was playing for "my" team. I believed he would be the one to carry the Giants all the way to victory and he very nearly did.

He brought the team close to the World Series four times in his fifteen-year tenure (1993, 1997, 2000, and 2003) and took them the distance once in 2002. That year, they were a mere nine outs away from the title when Dusty Baker took the ball from Russ Ortiz and effectively handed the championship to the Anaheim Angels. It was a heartbreaker. At the time, I wrote, "this was most likely Barry Bonds' first and last chance for a World Series ring". I still believe that's true.

While he has done more than his share to help the team, he has also done his share to hurt it. The suspicion surrounding his possible (some might say probable) steroid use has not only tainted him and everything he has accomplished, but it has tainted everything the team has accomplished, too. That cloud has robbed the fans and the team of a chance to fully celebrate his achievements. Any genuine recognition Bonds receives tonight will come from the fans. The team will do the minimum to appear appreciative, but it will do it only for the sake of appearances.

(There's also the fact that Barry is jerk, but that's small potatoes compared the issue of steroids.)

For fifteen years, Barry Bonds has been the one constant on the Giants. He has become synonymous with San Francisco. He is the last player left from the incredible 1993 team that won 103 games only to come in second place behind the Atlanta Braves. Back then, Bonds was the heart of a lineup that included Will Clark and Matt Williams. John Burkett and Billy Swift were the starters and Rod Beck was the closer. Dusty Baker managed the squad. With Bonds' departure, the last link to that era of Giants baseball is broken.

As a Giant, Bonds leaves a legacy of individual achievements. In the orange and black uniform, he hit 73 home runs in a season, walked 232 times in a season, hit 40 homers and stole 40 bases in a season, and was named MVP five times. He also broke the career home run record.

By the way, No. 756 is now going to Cooperstown with an asterisk on it based on the online poll held by Marc Ecko, the ball's owner. While I understand it's Mr. Ecko's ball to do with as he pleases, it's still disappointing to see him deface a piece of baseball history. I wonder if he'll make the equally classy gesture of taking a leak on the ball before handing it over to the Hall of Fame.

Just as Bonds caused mixed emotions in me these past years, his departure tonight does, too.

On the one hand, I'm glad he is going (relieved is probably a better word). He has had an amazing career, but it's time for him to go. The team has sacrificed a great deal to keep him on the roster. Now they can pursue younger, fresher talent to build a postseason contender.

On the other hand, I'm sad to see somebody who has meant so much to the team leave. If I could have my way, I would have Bonds retire as a Giant. I think it will be a long time before baseballs splash into McCovey Cove with any regularity and it will be even longer before San Francisco sees another player of his caliber. Most of all, I'll just miss seeing him play.

In the Mercury News, Mark Purdy wrote:

No baseball player in history has created as many simultaneous conflicting emotions as Bonds. But at AT&T Park this evening, there are bound to be more goodbyes than good riddances.

I hope there will be.

Goodbye, Barry.

¹ Over the last seven years, the ballpark has had three different names: Pac Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park. While some have taken to calling it Telephone Park and others refer to it as Mays Field or China Basin (according to Wikipedia), I think they should sell the naming rights to George Lucas and have him name it AT-AT Park. It makes sense for three reasons:

1. It would provide name stability. The name wouldn't be affected by the whims of the latest corporate merger or acquisition. The park would have a name that sticks. Wouldn't that be nice?
2. Lucas' companies, Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArt, are now headquartered at The Presidio, giving him a large presence in San Francisco's northwest corner. By establishing a presence at the stadium, located in the city's southeast corner, he would be balancing things out (or bringing balance to the Force, so to speak).
3. The creative possibilities are so much greater with Lucas than with a telecommunication company. Instead of a giant soda bottle towering above the left field fence, imagine a giant AT-AT standing out there. The playground could be transformed to look like Hoth or Endor. Kids could get their pictures taken in snowspeeders or on speeder bikes. Instead of numbering the sections, they could name them after characters. "Oh, you're in seat 5, row 14, in section Boba Fett." They could sell bats painted as lightsabers. They could have "Hug a Wookie" night. They could dress Jabba the Hut in a Giants uniform. Okay, that might be taking it too far, but you get the idea, and I had better stop before I become disappointed that this vision will never become a reality.

(This entry's title is courtesy of a random title generator.)

Today is the second day of fall. I would have posted on the first day of the new season, but between yard work and an intense feeling of never wanting to see the Movable Type interface again after such a harrowing upgrade experience, I didn't get around to it.

As far as I can tell, everything survived the upgrade except the banner. The latest version of M.T. allows users to select predesigned styles or themes for their blogs, which is convenient if you don't mind your journal looking exactly like somebody else's journal, but is a pain if you do mind and want to tweak the theme to add your own personality.

- - - - - -

It rained on Friday night and Saturday, which I must admit was a nice change of pace. The rain teased us Friday evening, giving us a thirty-minute preview of what was to come. It was as though it was simply testing the water, if you will - dipping its toe to see if the temperature was bearable. Five hours after the toe dip, the rain plunged right in and didn't let up until Saturday afternoon, making the last day of summer feel more like fall.

- - - - - -

Barry Bonds was on the front page of every local newspaper on Saturday. Headlines like "Bye-Bye, Barry" and "Gone" adorned the image of the rather dour looking slugger. The Giants are letting him go at the end of the season. I was stunned by the news. I had hoped they would finally release him to allow the team to move on, but I didn't actually expect them to do it. Bonds doesn't plan to retire, which means he'll be playing for a different team next season. It's going to be so strange to see him wearing a different uniform after fifteen years of seeing him in black and orange.

- - - - - -

The new television season starts tonight for the major networks. It's the season premiere of many shows, but the one I'm anticipating most is Heroes. I'm curious to find out what happened to Hiro, who was stranded in 17th-century Japan when we last saw him. I'm also curious to know what happened to Peter Petrelli. He was on the verge of exploding in the season finale, but from the previews, it looks like he survived (and used the explosion as an excuse to get a haircut).

The other show I'm looking forward to is the oversold Chuck, a new series by Josh Schwartz, the creator of The O.C. and Gossip Girl.

Chuck is a regular guy working at a computer store who gets mixed up with the NSA and CIA after he opens an email from an old college roommate (who happens to be a rogue CIA agent) containing top secret government intelligence.

I watched the pilot online (Yahoo! was offering a sneak peek) and it tickled my funny bone. In A-meets-B terms, the show is Ed Meets Alias. Zachary Levi reminds me of a younger Tom Cavanaugh.

While I like the show, I'm guessing the network will pull it in six episodes, which is four episodes longer than I expect Journeyman, the other show in NBC's Monday night roster, to live.

Somewhere in the world right now,

• somebody just heard the news that Barry Bonds homered over the weekend to tie Hank Aaron's home run record.
• somebody else heard the news and couldn't care less.
• somebody still hasn't heard the news.
• somebody just asked somebody else, "What is a home run?"
• somebody thinks Bonds is the greatest baseball player ever.
• somebody else has no idea who Barry Bonds is.
• somebody believes Daniel Craig is the best James Bond ever.
• somebody else believes Daniel Craig is the best Barry Bonds ever.
• that somebody's friend just corrected him by saying, "It isn't Bonds. It's Bond, Barry Bond."
• somebody is thinking, "Mmm... donuts!"

It's Monday. The world is a wacky and random place. Enjoy every second of it.

Two weeks ago, one of my favorite Giants players passed away. Rod Beck was just 38 years old. He pitched for San Francisco from 1991 to 1997 and was the closer. While with the team, he made it to the All-Star Game three times.

Today, I dread save situations. No matter how many runs the Giants score, no matter the size of the lead, it never feels safe. It feels as though the team is handing away the win when it hands the ball to the bullpen.

That wasn't the case when Beck was the stopper. When he came in, the game was as good as over. (It's true, he blew saves like everybody else, but he seemed to do it so rarely.)

Back then, I craved save situations. In fact, I would be disappointed if the Giants went into the ninth inning with a greater than three-run lead because it meant Number 47 wouldn't be pitching.

Besides performance, Beck had personality and it showed through his appearance. He was a stout figure with a mane of hair best described as a wild mullet. He had a huge Fu Manchu mustache and a right arm that swung like a pendulum as he looked at the catcher for his sign. I remember emulating that arm motion for fun when playing pick-up games.

His best pitch was the splitter. It wasn't very fast, but he threw it hard and made hitters look silly as they swung at the ball futilely or watched it snap by for a strike.

His best season was in 1993 (he saved 48 games), but he was instrumental to the Giants all the way through 1997, when the team replaced him with Rob Nen. He started to decline after that, playing for Chicago, Boston, and San Diego before fading from the game in 2004.

Despite his mean, bulldog look, Beck was known for being friendly and kindhearted. Reading through some of his obituaries, I wasn't surprised to learn that he was heavily involved in charity work and was adored by teammates and fans alike. It was heartbreaking to learn of his substance abuse and one wonders if it contributed to his death somehow.

In my heart, Beck will forever be a Giant, one of the notable names in the team's history, and I'll miss him.

In breaking Giants news (related to this entry), San Francisco just announced they traded Balkin' Benitez to Florida for Randy Messenger.

It's a move long overdue. As every S.F. fan knows, Benitez hasn't performed anywhere near the standard he set in 2004, when he saved 47 games for the Marlins. Apparently, it took Tuesday's debacle to finally convince the Giants front office to get off their bums and do something.

Messenger is a welcome addition to the bullpen. He has an ERA of 2.66 in 23 1/3 innings of work, which seems to indicate he is capable of preserving a lead. Now, with any luck, San Francisco's offense will come alive so he has a lead to preserve.

Last night, the Giants played the Mets in New York. I thought it would be fun to list the four things that went right and the one thing that went very wrong for the Giants in the game...

Four Things that Went Right:

1. Tim Lincecum's Start - The Franchise allowed just three runs on three hits and struck out eight in seven innings of work. He's coming along just fine.
2. Dan Ortmeier's Homer - Ortmeier hit his first major league home run in the sixth inning to tie the game.
3. Middle Relief - Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, and Russ Ortiz, the recently reassigned starter, combined for four scoreless innings of work, which gave the Giants a chance to win...
4. The Top of the Twelfth - San Francisco manufactured a run on a walk, wild pitch, sacrifice bunt, and fielder's choice.

One Thing that Went Very Wrong:

1. Armando Benitez - With a fresh one-run lead, the Giants closer promptly walked Jose Reyes and balked (sending Reyes to second). After Reyes advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, Armando pulled a classic Charlie Brown move by balking in the tying run. Carlos Delgado, seeking to put the suffering stopper out of his misery, sent a Benitez pitch sailing over the right field wall to end the game.

Final Score: Mets 5, Giants 4.

Balkin' Benitez took the loss, his third loss of Month. Luckily, the month ends in another day, so maybe he can turn it around in June.

Last week, on MLB.com Midday, a daily baseball show, Casey Stern talked with Paul Mercurio, a comedian and writer on The Daily Show.

The subject of Roger "The Rocket" Clemens and his 28-million-dollar ($9,000-a-pitch) contract came up and I got a laugh out of Mercurio's jibes...

First of all, the contract is 28 million, 22 dollars. The 22 dollars, and this is a fact, is for his number. And the 28 million dollars is the cost of building an actual rocket...

You know, there are a lot of little perks in his contract. He has to get taken to and from the mound during the game by helicopter...

And when he throws the ball, the catcher cannot throw the ball back to him. The ball is put on a silver platter and a butler brings the ball back to him...

Ah, baseball humor. It's so rare, you have to grab it wherever you can get it, even when it's on the mild side.

Sports Illustrated recently conducted a survey that asked big league players to name the most friendly and least friendly players in baseball.

While it's interesting to know that 46% believe Detroit's first baseman, Sean Casey, is the nicest guy around and 26% believe San Francisco's left fielder, Barry Bonds, is just plain mean, I don't think the magazine did enough with the information they collected. Specifically, they didn't answer the burning question any serious baseball fan would ask: Are friendly players better than unfriendly players?

To help SI out and satisfy my own curiosity, let's compare the Average SLOB of the top five players on each list. SLOB is one of my favorite hitting stats. I like it because it gives equal weight to a hitter's power and his ability to reach base. It's also easy to calculate - simply multiply slugging average (SLG) by on-base percentage (OPS). The bigger the SLOB, the better the player.

Enough with the words, let's get to the numbers...

Friendly Players

Name	Team	%	SLG	OBP	SLOB
Sean Casey	DET	46%	.319	.301	.096
Jim Thome	CWS	7%	.630	.537	.338
Mike Sweeney	KC	7%	.406	.336	.136
Dave Roberts	SF	4%	.371	.283	.105
David Ortiz	BOS	4%	.604	.433	.262
Average SLOB					.187

Unfriendly Players

Name	Team	%	SLG	OBP	SLOB
Barry Bonds	SF	26%	.630	.503	.317
Jeff Kent	LAD	20%	.487	.363	.177
AJ Pierzynski	CWS	13%	.478	.303	.145
Alex Rodriguez	NYY	12%	.689	.397	.274
Jose Guillen	SEA	2%	.455	.351	.160
Average SLOB					.215

As you can see, the Average SLOB of the unfriendly players is 15% higher than that of the friendly players.

Moral of the Story: If you want to be a better player, don't be so nice.

Yesterday, I went to my first baseball game of the season. It was the second game of a three-game series between the New York Mets and the San Francisco Giants. This was the only time the Mets would be in town, so I didn't want to miss it.

To avoid traffic, I took Caltrain to the park. I wanted to arrive early so I could eat dinner at one of the nearby restaurants and still have time to wander around the park before the game began. The first place I came across that looked appealing was Nama Sushi. It wasn't busy, so the service was quick. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I went with the moderately priced salmon entree ($12.50), which came with the standard rice, miso soup, and salad. It wasn't bad.

From there, I strolled over to the stadium, entered through the main gates, and wandered through the promenade level. There is something about AT&T Park that I just love. It feels old and new at the same time. It also has an energy that one doesn't find in many places.

Big, bright signs on the walls advertised food and drink vendors with memorable names like Say Hey! Willie Mays Sausages, Stinking Rose Restaurant, and Murph's Irish Pub. I stopped by the Cable Car Bar and ordered a glass of chardonnay because I had recently read a newspaper article touting the wines at AT&T Park. A glass will set you back $7.75, but that isn't as bad as the beer, which will set you back $8.00.

I was lucky to get a seat on the left field side. I was only about nine rows back from the field, so Barry Bonds and Moises Alou weren't too far away. As luck would have it, nobody hit a thing to left field the entire night. Wait, that isn't true. Alou did fly out to Bonds in the first inning, but I think he did that just to keep Bonds on his toes. Otherwise, nothing was hit to left, as evidenced by the following photos of two very bored outfielders...

Matt Cain was the Giants starting pitcher. The kid (he's only 23) is my favorite pitcher on the team. He had a rough outing in his previous start, so I was rooting for him to rebound. Unfortunately, he ran into trouble straightaway.

Jose Reyes led off the game with would have been a triple if not for the fortuitous bounce the ball took over the center field wall to make it a ground rule double. David Wright followed with a double that scored Reyes. Then Carlos Beltran hit a double, which scored Wright.

By the way, if you remember this post, then you know of my affinity for the first two men in the Mets' lineup. I'll admit that I was secretly hoping they would do well. By doing well, I mean I hoped they would reach base, but wouldn't actually cross home plate. They did better than I had hoped and three Mets crossed home plate; the third scoring on Alou's sacrifice fly to Bonds.

The Giants responded promptly with an out, a single, a caught stealing, and another out. Tom Glavine was pitching for the Mets. At the beginning of the game, he was seven games away from his 300th win. By the end, he was six games away. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

In the second inning, Cain gave up a single to Paul Lo Duca, who would go on to single two more times before the night was done. Cain got the next two men out, but gave up a sweet triple to Jose Reyes that scored Lo Duca.

After that run, Matt Cain shut the Mets down for the next five innings. He ran into a little bit of trouble in the sixth by loading the bases with two outs, but he somehow managed to get Reyes to fly out to center field before any damage was done.

The only Giants run came in the fifth inning. After Rich Aurilia grounded out to second, Bonds came up and promptly launched a solo home run over the center field wall for No. 745. My camera wasn't ready to catch the actual home run, so I settled for taking a photo of the sign of the leader board in center field.

That made the score 4 to 1 in favor of New York and that's the way it would end. Both Cain and Glavine would pitch seven innings. Kevin Correia pitched two perfect innings for the Giants, while Pedro Feliciano held the Giants scoreless in the eighth and Billy Wagner got the save in the ninth by striking out Pedro Feliz to end the game.

The most valuable player of the game was New York's Jose Reyes. He doubled, tripled, scored a run, and drove in a run. The least valuable player was San Francisco's Todd Linden. He struck out all three times he batted.

As I left the park, I took one last photo for memory's sake...

For fun, I tried my hand at scorekeeping last night. It's the first time I've ever successfully scored an entire game. It isn't perfect by any means, but I'm pretty proud of my attempt. My happiest moment came in the third inning when a late-arriving Mets fan took a seat next to me and asked for a game update. I was able to give him a quick recap with the help of my scorecard. Here it is...

When I tuned in to hear yesterday's Giants game, I knew I was tuning in to hear a pounding. It was the only possible outcome after all of the media hype over San Francisco's hottest pitching prospect, Tim Lincecum.

For the last couple of weeks, the local media has been in a tizzy over Lincecum's stellar minor league numbers: 1 earned run in 31 innings of work (a 0.29 ERA) in Triple A Fresno. It was actually embarrassing to hear those stats repeated ad nauseam by talk show hosts, sportswriters, and broadcasters. Some said it so often, I wondered if they had it tattooed on their foreheads. It seemed so ridiculous. Lincecum hadn't thrown a single pitch in the Majors and people were already calling him "The Franchise" and saying, "This kid isn't a fluke. He's the real deal."

Of course, yesterday's pounding (5 runs in 4 1/3 innings, some might consider it a light pounding) doesn't mean he isn't the real deal. It just means he's human. And like any human, he's susceptible to nerves. In his case, they were nerves partly produced by the fact that he was pitching in his first big league game and partly produced by the honking heap of media-generated hype.

The only player to receive more hype than Lincecum this season is Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is currently laboring under the weight of high expectations from two nations (Japan and Red Sox Nation). In his last (and worst) start, Matsuzaka allowed seven earned runs in five innings, further inflating his ERA to very ordinary 5.45.

In a way, I think yesterday's less-than-perfect start was a good thing. It diffused the anticipation and expectations that had been building around Lincecum and effectively switched off the insane hype machine that had been running nonstop for the past few weeks. In other words, it gave perspective and reality a chance to reassert themselves.

Lincecum has the potential to be a great baseball pitcher and a great addition to the Giants starting rotation, but in the same breath, he isn't the second coming of [insert name of random Giants Hall of Fame pitcher here]. Now that he's gotten his first start out of the way, I'm looking forward to his next one.

It's the seventh of May, the Giants have a winning record (16-14), and the New York Mets are in town for a three-game series. I'm stoked because I'm attending my first game of the season tomorrow night. Matt Cain (who got pelted in his last start after so many outstanding outings) faces Tom Glavine. It should be an exciting match up and I can't wait to see it.

This Bat Was Made For Swinging (And Missing)

Sometimes it's fun to see who the wild hackers are in the league - those who would rather wail away than let ball four pass them by. They're at the plate to use that bat, even if it mean knocking the stuffing out of the air above home plate. Cincinnati's Dave Ross leads the league in whiff production. If his strike outs were hits, he'd be batting .393.

Player	Team	AB	BB	SO	PA	PA/SO	PA/BB	SO/BB
Dave Ross	CIN	61	3	24	64	2.67	21.33	8.00
BJ Upton	TB	77	7	28	84	3.00	12.00	4.00
Alex Gordon	KC	84	11	31	95	3.06	8.64	2.82
Craig Monroe	DET	87	6	29	93	3.21	15.50	4.83
Adam Dunn	CIN	92	15	33	107	3.24	7.13	2.20

And I Would Walk 500 Miles

It's also fun to see who is patient at the plate, has "good eyes", or is somebody the opposition would rather pitch around. Jim Thome leads this category. He walks every third time up.

Player	Team	AB	BB	SO	PA	PA/SO	PA/BB	SO/BB
Jim Thome	CWS	50	25	15	75	5.00	3.00	0.60
Barry Bonds	SF	63	23	10	86	8.60	3.74	0.43
Ryan Howard	PHI	79	26	29	105	3.62	4.04	1.12
Pat Burrell	PHI	75	22	20	97	4.85	4.41	0.91
Todd Helton	COL	91	25	6	116	19.33	4.64	0.24

Once Is Enough

While I was at it, I wanted to see which players were in base-on-balls "slumps". I arbitrarily set a one-walk minimum for the sake of calculation. I'm not a fan of dividing by zero (seeing #DIV/0! makes me cringe). The interesting player in this table is Yuniesky Betancourt. He rarely walks and he rarely strikes out. So, if you need a guy to put the ball in play, Yuni is your man.

Player	Team	AB	BB	SO	PA	PA/SO	PA/BB	SO/BB
Ivan Rodriguez	DET	96	1	19	97	5.11	97.00	19.00
Garret Anderson	LAA	95	1	13	96	7.38	96.00	13.00
Shea Hillenbrand	LAA	80	1	5	81	16.20	81.00	5.00
Kevin Mench	MIL	71	1	5	72	14.40	72.00	5.00
Yuniesky Betancourt	SEA	70	1	4	71	17.75	71.00	4.00

I Don't Want To Miss A Thing

Finally, there are guys who seem incapable of missing the ball. They get out just as often as any other ballplayer, but they aren't as likely to get themselves out. While it's pretty incredible that David Eckstein has only struck out once in 93 trips to the plate this season, it's even more incredible that Placido Polanco, in his career, has only struck out 275 times in 4,047 plate appearances (or just 7% of the time).

Player	Team	AB	BB	SO	PA	PA/SO	PA/BB	SO/BB
David Eckstein	STL	87	6	1	93	93.00	15.50	0.17
Placido Polanco	DET	109	6	3	115	38.33	19.17	0.50
Adam Kennedy	STL	73	5	4	78	19.50	15.60	0.80
Todd Helton	COL	91	25	6	116	19.33	4.64	0.24
Yuniesky Betancourt	SEA	70	1	4	71	17.75	71.00	4.00

(Or Why Giants Fans Should Show Matt Cain a Little Love)

San Francisco's Matt Cain finally won his first game of the season on Sunday. He pitched a 1-run, 3-hit, complete game gem, as the Giants beat the Diamondbacks 2-1.

He may not be the first pitcher in the rotation or highest paid pitcher on the team, but he is certainly the ace of the staff. Opposing batters are hitting a mere .120 against him, which is the third lowest average in the big leagues, behind Chicago's Rich Hill and Seattle's Felix Hernandez. He is also fifth in baserunners allowed per nine innings (BAPNI), which is really just WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) multiplied by nine.

I realize teams have only played 18 or 19 games and most pitchers only have four or five starts so far, thereby providing a very small sample size, but it's still fun to calculate, sort, and compare the statistics. Consider it sabermetrical spring training. For some real sabermetrics talk, check out Beyond the Box Score. To the table...

Player	Team	OBA	BAPNI
Mark Buehrle	Chicago White Sox	.150	5.92
Rich Hill	Chicago Cubs	.113	6.13
Felix Hernandez	Seattle Mariners	.107	6.24
Ted Lilly	Chicago Cubs	.165	6.92
Matt Cain	San Francisco Giants	.120	7.44
Jeremy Bonderman	Detroit Tigers	.202	7.71
Ramon Ortiz	Minnesota Twins	.215	7.76
Johan Santana	Minnesota Twins	.191	8.33
Tim Hudson	Atlanta Braves	.165	8.38
Chad Gaudin	Oakland Athletics	.186	8.51

(A quick key to abbreviations: OBA = Opposing Batting Average, BAPNI = Baserunners Allowed Per Nine Innings)

By the way, Sunday's (a.k.a. Earth Day's) Foxtrot was all about baseball, a game Peter isn't very good at...

Last month, a fan asked Curt Schilling who he would pay to see play baseball. I thought it was such a great qustion, I decided to make it a meme. In alphabetical order, here's a Top 10 list of major leaguers I would pay to see play baseball...

1. Barry Bonds, Giants - Controversy aside, it's still exciting to see him hit one deep. Yesterday's splash hit brought back happy memories. This may be the last season fans get to see anyone hit those with any regularity.
2. Craig Counsell, Brewers - Counsell doesn't have the most impressive hitting stats, but his defense is incredible and I love his crazy stance. He one of those guys who gives the game everything he's got. He embodies what I love about baseball.
3. Greg Maddux, Padres - Maddux is just one of the finest pitchers out there. His control is still amazing. He's played for a number of teams since pitching for Atlanta, but I'll always think of him as a Brave.
4. David Ortiz, Red Sox - Big Papi is the heart of the Red Sox. It's fun to see him crush the ball, especially when the game is on the line.
5. Roy Oswalt, Astros - He's one of the most dominating pitchers in the game. It was tough watching him and Houston lose in the World Series two years ago.
6. Albert Pujols, Cardinals - He's off to a slow start this year, but I'm sure he'll heat up in no time. Like Ortiz, he's an intimidating player that can change the entire game with one swing of the bat.
7. Jose Reyes, Mets - I'm a fan of leadoff men like Reyes - guys who are excellent contact hitters and speedy base stealers. Whenever he's at bat, the intensity of the game rises.
8. Curt Schilling, Red Sox - I remember rooting for him when he pitched for the Phillies. The 1993 World Series was a painful affair to follow. Arizona in 2001 solidified him as one of my favorite pitchers, and Boston in 2004 pushed him to the top spot (and I'm not just saying that because he has a blog).
9. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners - Like Counsell and Reyes, everytime I see Ichiro play, I'm reminded why I love the sport so much. He lives the game. Everytime he steps to the plate, it feels like he's going to make something happen. It's a thrill to see him beat out infield grounders and work the basepaths.
10. David Wright, Mets - He has been a solid hitter and third baseman for New York since 2004. He reminds me a lot of Matt Williams - professional, level-headed, hardworking, and likable. Plus, he's getting better every year.

You might have noticed that seven of the ten players I mentioned are National Leaguers. The N.L. is still my favorite league.

So, who would you pay to see play ball?

Barry Bonds hits two home runs and Russ Ortiz nearly pitches a complete game. Would that happen on a normal day? Maybe if it were 2001, but never in 2007. Thankfully, today is Friday the 13th, where weird and unexplainable things can happen, like a Giants win or Bonds and Ortiz playing like it was 2001.

Bonds only played four innings, but in that short period, he went 3 for 3, homered twice, and drove in four runs. I don't know if his partial game appearances are going to be standard procedure this season, but if it is, the Giants better hope their pitching holds up because their offense dries up once Barry leaves. Tonight, they scored seven of their eight runs in the first two innings, but after Barry's fourth inning home run, the team's bats were silent.

Ortiz was only one out away from pitching a complete game when the manager pulled him. After giving up two runs in the first inning, he settled down and pitched seven scoreless innings. In the ninth, he got the first two batters out, but then gave up a three-run homer. It would have been great if he could have ended his long losing streak with a complete game victory, but Bruce Bochy was smart to relieve him. If he had stayed, Ortiz might have pitched himself right out of a win.

If only Bonds and Ortiz could perform like it was 2001 (or Friday the 13th) every day, the team might not seem so hopeless and the season so long.

Random tidbit: San Francisco's next Friday the 13th game happens in July, when they play Los Angeles at home. That's an awful long time to wait for another win, but at least it will be against the Dodgers.

(Or Why The Giants Suck So Badly So Far)

Because this journal isn't boring enough, I thought I'd take a moment to show a couple of tables with baseball statistics. I know we're only nine games into the season, but for my own amusement, I wanted to see if there was any correlation between the number of plate appearances it took a team to score a run and its standing in division play.

The following table shows the teams that needed the least number of plate appearances to score a run. Teams in bold are division leaders.

Rank	Team	PA	R	PA/R	%
1	New York Yankees	312	52	6.00	.500
2	Toronto Blue Jays	322	52	6.19	.625
3	New York Mets	314	49	6.41	.625
4	Cleveland Indians	201	31	6.48	.600
5	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	306	45	6.80	.375

And here are the teams that required the most plate appearances to score a run. Teams in bold are division cellar dwellers.

Rank	Team	PA	R	PA/R	%
26	Pittsburgh Pirates	344	28	12.29	.444
27	St. Louis Cardinals	325	26	12.50	.556
28	Oakland Athletics	358	28	12.79	.400
29	San Francisco Giants	316	20	15.80	.222
30	Washington Nationals	333	21	15.86	.111

Conclusion Stating the Obvious: While a high PA/R doesn't guarantee a spot at the top of a division, a low PA/R nearly ensures a slot at the bottom.

(A quick key to abbreviations: PA = Plate Appearances, R = Runs, % = Win-Loss Percentage)

Oakland's Dan Haren must be thinking he needs to pitch a perfect game to get a win. In his first two starts, he has given up just one earned run, but has two losses to his name. In those same two games, the Athletics have scored one run and committed three errors. It might help if the team started giving him some run support and stopped booting the ball.

On the bright side, Haren can console himself in the fact that he isn't San Francisco's Russ Ortiz. At least he hasn't gone an entire season without a win. With yesterday's loss, Ortiz hasn't won a game since August 29, 2005.

On the bright side, with each successive loss, the probability that his next start will result in a loss diminishes. At some point in the future, he'll win again. At least that is what Ortiz should be telling himself. It's also what everybody around him should be telling him so he might actually pull himself out of this slump. At all costs, nobody should mention anything about the gambler's fallacy.

The Giants as a team are off to a slow start. They have a record of 1-4. Fortunately, there are four bright sides here...

1. The season is young and there are still 157 games to lose play.
2. At least they're getting to play baseball, unlike the Indians and the Mariners. Their series has been postponed for three days and tomorrow's game is also in question due to snow in Cleveland.
3. At least they don't have the lowest winning percentage in the league. That honor goes to the Washington Nationals, who are 1-5.
4. At least they aren't the lowest scoring team in the league. A lot has been made about San Francisco's anemic offense, but they've still scored three more runs than St. Louis, last year's World Champions. The Cardinals have only scored seven runs in their first five games.

The person receiving the brunt of the blame for the Cardinals' run drought is Albert Pujols. He has one hit (a double) in twenty plate appearances and has yet to bat in a run. To his credit, he has walked three times and has only struck out once. And on the bright side (and I had to search long and hard for this one), at least he isn't Kansas City's Alex Gordon, who is 1 for 15, with a single, no walks, and six strike outs.

Finally, on a baseball-related tangent, I saw part of last night's Padres game and was completely thrown by San Diego's uniforms. I had no idea they had special camouflage jerseys, which they to honor the military. It threw me for a loop. It's one of those things that fall into the category of cool in concept, but eerie in execution.

Happy Easter!

Conflict of Interest

As a loyal Giants fan, I contractually obligated to root against Dodgers, but I must admit I was secretly rooting for Jason Schmidt to pitch well against the Brewers. It's physically painful to see the guy wearing Dodger blue after seeing him in a Giants uniform for so long. The good news is that he pitched five solid innings and gave up only one run on three hits. Los Angeles went on to beat Milwaukee 5-4. You should know I have a soft spot for the Brewers this year, especially since they have Craig Counsell, one of my favorite baseball players.

Bronson Arroyo

I'm rooting for Bronson Arroyo again this year. He had his first start today and didn't do so well. He pitched seven innings, allowed four runs on eight hits, and struck out nine. He also took the loss as Chicago beat Cincinnati 4-1.

Bonds Homers

Barry Bonds went deep in the first inning of tonight's game, which means he is twenty home runs away from tying Hank Aaron's record. It's the first run the Giants have scored this season, which is a bit sad considering this is the second game of the season, but on the bright side, at least this isn't Game 3 or 4. I've made some pretty snarky remarks in the past about Bonds, but if 43-year-old veteran is going to be the only one generating runs for the team, then I would like to quietly withdraw and apologize for my remarks. They were obviously made when I thought San Francisco would have some semblance of an offense. By the way, the Giants are losing to the Padres 5-3 in the eighth. I hope Bonds can work some of his magic to tie it up in the ninth.

Opening Day for the San Francisco Giants begins shortly. They'll be playing the Padres at AT&T Park and I'll be blogging it semi-live as I listen to the broadcast via an audio stream. Think of it as Baseball Twittering.

Before I begin, I should mention that I'm giddy with dread. I can't wait for the game to begin, but at the same time, I'm afraid Barry Zito will get smacked around like Curt Schilling did yesterday. Schilling lasted all of four innings, giving up five runs on eight hits. On his personal blog, Curt cited a lack of command for his poor performance. I'm sure he'll work hard to regain it before his next start, but yesterday's game was painful to listen to. I gave up shortly after Schilling left. Kansas went on to win 7-1.

I listened to part of the Athletics and Mariners opening game and heard the sixth inning when Bobby Crosby booted a routine double play relay throw. If he had fielded it cleanly, the inning would have been over. Instead, the inning continued and the Mariners scored four times before Dan Haren could shut the door. Oakland lost 4-0.

Fortunately, yesterday wasn't a complete bust. After all, Ben Sheets and the Brewers stomped all over the Dodgers and t.

Okay, enough about yesterday. Let's get to today's action. To read this chronologically, please start at the bottom...

- - - - - - - - -

4:22 PM -- And the game ends with the Padres drubbing the Giants by a score of 7-0.

Bottom 9

• Todd Linden faces Bell... out.
• Molina vs. Bell... out.
• Feliz vs. Bell... out a single? Wow. Rally time!
• And then Winn rolls it to second to end the game! Shucks.
• SD 7, SF 0

Top 9

• Bard gets his fourth hit of the day and sends Cameron to third.
• Steve Kline, who had replaced Chulk, keeps the Padres scoreless.
• Giants have three more outs to score seven runs!
• SD 7, SF 0

Bottom 8

• Heath Bell in to pitch for San Diego.
• With one out, Vizquel singles. Bonds comes to the plate.
• Bonds sends one for a ride, but it dies at the left field wall and is caught.
• The Giants fail again to mount a rally.
• SD 7, SF 0

Top 8

• Gonzalez gets on, Bard follows with a double. Men on second and third with nobody out. Khalil Greene hits a single and Gonzalez scores.
• Bochy goes to the bullpen again.
• Vinnie Chulk replaces Sanchez and promptly gets an out, but allows a run to score.
• Russell Branyan doubles and another run scores.
• Chulk walks Marcus Giles. This is getting painful. The weak Giants bullpen is living up to its reputation.
• Omar Vizquel spears a liner by Brian Giles and the inning is thankfully over.
• SD 7, SF 0

Bottom 7

• Disappointed they didn't broadcast the 7th inning stretch. Oh well.
• Bengie Molina gets a hit off of the new Padres pitchers, Clay Meredith.
Winn gets a hit. Two men on with one out.
• The rally dies an early death with a Klesko groundball for a double play. Stinkers!
• SD 4, SF 0

Top 7

• Jose Cruz, Jr. leads off with a triple.
• Bruce Bochy, Giants manager, makes a double switch.
• Jonathan Sanchez comes in for Correia and Ryan Klesko replaces Aurilia at first.
• Sanchez strikes out the first man. 1 out.
• Sanchez throws a wild pitch, way up and outside. Cruz scores. Augh!!
• SD 4, SF 0

Bottom 6

• Durham singles, but Peavy gets Rich Aurilia to fly out and end the inning.
• Will the Giants go without scoring a run in their first game?
• SD 3, SF 0

Top 6

• Kevin Correia takes the mound for the Giants.
• Bard singles, but Correa retires the side.
• SD 3, SF 0

Bottom 5

• And who better to get something started than Pedro Feliz!
• I had trouble typing that previous sentence without laughing (and then crying).
• Feliz strikes out just to prove a point.
• Randy Winn walks.
• Lance Niekro pinch hits for Zito with one on and one out and then strikes out. Peavy has fanned six.
• Roberts flies out to end the inning.
• SD 3, SF 0

Top 5

• Zito is back to work the fifth. Let's hope for a short inning.
• Okay, three up and three down with a strike out is short enough. Come on, Giants, let's get something started already!
• SD 3, SF 0

Bottom 4

• Bonds walks, but that's about it.
• SD 3, SF 0

Top 4

• Dave Fleming mentions the ballpark bunting for the fourth time. Mike Cameron scores on a single by Josh Bard.
• Padres have the bases loaded with one away.
• Zito walks in a run. Bard scores. Brad Hennessy gets up in the Giants bullpen.
• Thank goodness! A double play ball that ends the inning.
• SD 3, SF 0

Bottom 3

• Peavy boots a Dave Roberts infield hit, but the Giants don't do anything with it.
• SD 1, SF 0

Top 3

• Zito has settled down after giving up the run in the first inning.
• SD 1, SF 0

Bottom 2

• Peavy sails through the bottom of the second.
• SD 1, SF 0

Top 2

• Zito zips through the second.
• SD 1, SF 0

Bottom 1

• Jake Peavy is pitching for San Diego. He got the first two men out and now faces Barry Bonds. Bonds behind in the count 0-2. Works it to a full count. Bonds strokes a ball to the opposite field, defeating the shift, for a base hit.
• Bonds steals second. Ray Durham bounces to short. The throw to first gets away from Gonzalez. Bonds attempts to score, but is thrown out at home and the inning ends.
• SD 1, SF 0

Top 1

• The Giants are on the field. Barry Zito is on the mound. Jon Miller and Dave Fleming are in the booth. It's 1:37 PM. Play ball! Zito's first pitch is a strike.
• Brian Giles gets first Padres hit of the season. A one-out double off Zito.
• Adrian Gonzalez pokes a single over the shortstop. Giles scores the first Padres run of the season.
• Zito works out of the inning without further damage. Giants coming up.
• SD 1, SF 0

1:30 PM -- Stu Miller throws out the ceremonial first pitch.

1:23 PM -- The All-Star honoring continues. Fun fact: The Giants have more inductees in Baseball's Hall of Fame than any other franchise. HOFers present include Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays.

1:16 PM -- Since San Francisco is hosting the All-Star Game this year, the Giants are honoring their past All-Stars. Jon Miller, the Giants broadcaster, is down on the field announcing. Names include Felipe Alou, Vida Blue, and Jeffrey Leonard. Now they're getting to guys I remember when I first started following the team: Atlee Hammaker, Mike Krukow, Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams, and Robby Thompson.

1:11 PM -- The cast of The Jersey Boys just sang the national anthem. Maybe it's just the quality of the audio stream, but they sound screechy. On a positive note, it's a well-harmonized screechiness.

1:05 PM -- They just finished announcing the starting lineup and now they're paying tribute to members of the Giants family that passed away, including Chris Brown, Jose Uribe, and Pat Dobson.

Major League Baseball's Spring Training is underway. For the Giants, that means playing Cactus League exhibition games down in Scottsdale, Arizona.

I know the wins and losses don't mean much at this point in the year, but the Giants have a winning record so far (3-1). That's with a clubhouse suffering from a bad case of the flu. Just imagine how well they'd be doing if they were healthy. (Okay, they'd probably be 0-3, but work with me here.)

I listened to part of the Giants/Mariners game on the radio yesterday and one of the broadcasters said roughly 25 guys on the 63-man roster were sick or recovering, including Barry Bonds and Ray Durham. Both were told to stay home so no one else would get infected.

For veterans like Bonds and Durham, the flu might cost them a few days away from the field, but for young prospects hoping to make a good impression, being sick might cost them a spot on the team. I can't imagine the stress they must be going through - wanting to show off their stuff, but at the same time wanting to drink a bottle of Robitussin, curl up in a ball, and sleep. (An alternative line I considered using was "wanting to hack away at the plate without hacking up a lung", but my better judgment intervened.)

Luckily, the regular season doesn't begin until April, which means players will hopefully have enough time to recover and prove themselves worthy of a spot on the 25-man roster.

The Giants are playing Arizona today. Barry Zito is making his second start. (How nice it is to see him in black and orange.) He pitched two scoreless innings in his first outing. Let's hope he can repeat that performance today. Maybe they'll let him test his endurance by pitching an entire third inning.

The 2007 season is just 29 days away. I can't wait for baseball to start again.

Baseball is another of my guilty pleasures. This article about Barry Zito is the inspiration for today's strip.

Before I came up with the strip, I was facing writer's block, so I experimented and created this for fun...

The ongoing Barry Bonds - San Francisco Giants saga is a source of annoyance for me. Here are links to the headlines featured in Panels 2-4...

• January 29, 2007 (MLB.com)
• January 31, 2007 (MLB.com)
• February 11, 2007 (nydailynews.com)

I just wanted to take a moment to note how happy I am that Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gywnn will be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame this year. It's hard to imagine two more deserving players, which must have been the feeling shared by the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America who voted. Of the 545 ballots cast, Ripken received 537 votes - 128 more than the required minimum for induction. Gwynn received five votes less than Ripken.

Growing up, I didn't pay much attention to Ripken. I knew he was chasing Lou Gehrig's consecutive game record, but didn't know much else beyond that. Being a fan of the National League and the Giants, Baltimore just wasn't on my radar.

I was more aware of Tony Gwynn. He played for the San Diego Padres after all. I just remember being mesmerized whenever he came to the plate. To see the man hit was a joy. It's the same feeling I get today when I see Ichiro Suzuki hit. Although Gwynn's statistics say he failed to reach base six times out ten, it always seemed like he managed to get on when I watched him.

I most remember rooting for Gwynn in 1994, when he came so very close to becoming the first player since Ted Williams to hit .400 in a season. That was the year of the strike that shortened the season and ruined his chances at the elusive mark. He finished with a still amazing .394.

Oddly enough, I first read about Ripken's and Gwynn's election in a New York Times article (registration required) with the headline, "Steroid Cloud Stops McGwire From Entering Hall". It's funny that more attention was given to how many votes Mark McGwire received (or didn't receive) due to his suspected steroid use than to the two men who actually made it into the Hall of Fame. It's also funny that most of the television footage I've seen of Gwynn or Ripken has been of them answering questions about McGwire or steroids.

If the media is going to focus on players who didn't make it in, reporters shouldn't focus on McGwire, who is still eligible for induction next year (he received more than the 5% needed to remain eligible). No, they should focus instead on the poor souls who didn't make the cut and will never get another chance, like McGwire's old Bash Brother, Jose Canseco.

So, to make it up to the players overlooked by the voting members of the association and the media, here is a list to commemorate those who will never have another shot at Cooperstown. They include:

• Albert Belle
• Dante Bichette
• Bobby Bonilla
• Scott Brosius
• Jay Buhner
• Ken Caminiti